Disney’s Magic Kingdom® Properties of Motion Physics Lab

Students become theme park scientists for a day as they apply the scientific method to explore acceleration, velocity, and potential and kinetic energy at Disney’s Properties of Motion ® seminar. But this is no ordinary seminar; students find enrichment, inspiration, and pure fun as they see how principles they’re learning in the classroom are at the core of bringing Magic Kingdom Park attractions to life.

On the ride from the Transportation and Ticket Center to the Magic Kingdom ® main entrance, the Disney’s trained and knowledgeable Y.E.S. (Youth Education Series) facilitator introduces students to the scientific method, which acts as a tool for explorations into the principles of physics.

Disney Y.E.S. field studies allow students to do things they can’t do anywhere else in the world. They go on major Magic Kingdom ® attractions, like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad ® , Space Mountain ® , and Splash Mountain ® to explore the laws of physics, ride and simulate a roller-coaster ride, and collect data.

The experience of Properties of Motion ® gives them the tools to study speed, velocity, acceleration, hydraulics, pneumatics, gravity, acceleration, and inertia.

Did you know:

Newton’s three laws of motion – inertia, acceleration, and action/reaction – play a part in the design and construction of roller coasters. The force of gravity powers the roller coaster while hills and turns create the acceleration that keeps you pinned to your seats.

Space Mountain was the world’s first completely dark, indoor coaster.

Light and sound both travel as waves, each in a very different way. Sound can be produced only if the waves hit a medium that will carry the vibrations, such as air, water, or even steel. Light does not need a medium to travel through – as electromagnetic radiation, it provides its own waviness.